Guiding device for pumps lowerable in shafts

ABSTRACT

A guiding device for pumps lowerable in a shaft, in which the guiding device is arranged to be torsioned, inclined or otherwise formed in such a way that the associated pumps, in conjunction with raising or lowering, are given also a lateral movement, and in which the paths of the pumps are arranged to diverge during their lowering and converging during their raising.

United States Patent Wikholm et al.

GUIDING DEVICE FOR PUMPS LOWERABLE IN SHAFTS lnventors: Sture Sven-OlofWikholm; Carl Evert Sjiistrand, Solna, both of Sweden Assignee: Sterherg-Flygt AB, Solna, Sweden Filed: Nov. 5, 1970 Appl. No.: 87,137

Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 29, 1972 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 3,234,885 2/1966 Englesson ..4l7/360 3,018,925 11962 Englesson ..4l7/360 Primary Examiner-Robert M. WalkerAtt0meySughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT A guidingdevice for pumps lowerable in a shaft, in

Nov. 17 1969 Sweden ..1577l/69 which the guiding device is ammged to heinclined or otherwise formed in such a way that the as- U S Cl 417/424417/360 222/385 sociated pumps, in conjunction with raising or lower-F04b 35/00 F02") 35/04 ing, are given also a lateral movement, and inwhich B67d 6 the paths of the pumps are arranged to diverge during Fieldof ch 417/424 360 6 33 35 5 their lowering and converging during theirraising.

222/180 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures :7 5: E 5|X-Eb'-NNI\AQI$MK\\-\IF&WNS 5 ,5 b

amt.

PATENTEDmszs m2 PRIOR ART GUIDING DEVICE FOR PUMPS LOWERABLE IN SHAFTSThe invention relates to a guiding device for pumps submersible inshafts and, via a guide block or the like, steered by means of downwarddirected structural members or the like.

It is a known procedure to arrange, for example, submersible sewagepumps in underground shafts on vertical guides, rails or the like inorder, for servicing, repair, overhaul etc., to be able to hoist thepump out of the sewage water to an opening in the top of the shaft. Thepump is steered, for example by a guide block on two parallel tubes orother structural sections. The latter are secured at or near the bottomof the shaft and to an upper attachment at or near the opening. It isdesirable that the upper attachment and the upper ends of the guides aresituated as high as possible so that, when the pump is to be lowered, itcan be conveniently fitted to the guides. This implies, inter alia, thatthe guides should extend practically up to the opening.

In double-pump stations, for example, which are common owing to thevarious advantages involved, a certain minimum distance is requiredbetween the pumps. This necessitates a larger opening than wouldotherwise be necessary and may often involve problems and extra cost forthe location of such pump stations in streets, turning zones, factoryyards etc. with heavy vehicle traffic, owing to the need for large,trafficable manhole covers and robust load-bearing structures, which areexpensive and extremely heavy when required to carry heavy loads and forthe present spans required. Such manhole covers are usually made of castiron with concrete shafts and must be lifted with a truck-mounted crane,tackle, pulley block, or the like.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate or at least greatlyreduce these disamenities at such pump stations with two or more pumps.

This is achieved according to the invention chiefly through the factthat the guiding device is torsioned, inclined, bent or otherwise shapedin such a way that the pump, when raised and lowered, is caused to movealso sideways, the paths of motion of the various pumps diverging in thelowering operation and converging in the raising operation.

The invention and further developments of it will now be described withreference to the attached drawings, of which FIG. 1 shows a shaftopening for a single-pump station, viewed from above,

FIG. 2 the shaft opening of a conventional doublepump station, viewedfrom above,

FIG. 3 the shaft opening of a double-pump station according to theinvention, viewed from above,

FIG. 4 a vertical section through a double-pump station according to theinvention,

FIG. 5 the shaft opening of FIG. 4, viewed from above,

FIG. 6 an alternative embodiment, viewed from the side,

FIG. 7 is a schematic of helical guide means.

FIG. 1 shows the shaft opening 1 of a single-pump station. The pump 2can be raised and lowered and is guided by means of a guide block, notillustrated, running on two tubular guides 6 and 7. The guides 6 and 7are secured at the top by means of an upper attachment 4.

The shaft opening of a conventional double-pump station is shown in FIG.2, in which two pumps 2 and 3, in the same way as in the embodiment inFIG. 1, are vertically steered by straight tubular guides 6 and 7 and,respectively, 8 and 9, secured to the upper attachments 4 and 5. It isclearly seen that the shaft opening 1 in FIG. 2 is roughly twice aslarge as in FIG. 1. Either the cover of the shaft, therefore must beconsiderably more robust owing to its size or an extra loadbearingstructure 20 must be arranged.

FIG. 3 as well shows the shaft opening of a doublepump station, but inthis case, through application of the invention, the size of the openingis practically the same as for the single-pump station in FIG. 1. Asappears from the figure, the upper attachments 4 and 5 of theessentially straight tubular guides are placed in the corners of theopening and set at an angle in relation to the lower guide attachments,so that the pumps 2, 3, when raised or lowered, slide in a helical pathround a vertical axis between a lower, swung-out position 10 and anupper position 11 swung-in towards the center, so that the smaller shaftopening 1 will be sufficiently large. Alternatively one tube 7, 9 may bestraight and the other 6, 8 run in a helix round the former.

A vertical section through a double-pump station according to theinvention is shown in FIG. 4, its horizontal section in FIG. 5. Theshaft 13 of the pump station has a cover 18. Immediately under the cover18 in two corners of the shaft opening 1 are the upper attachments 4 and5 to which are secured the slightly flexible tubular guides 6, 7, 8, 9.The attachments 4 and 5 are again set at an angle with respect to theassociated fittings 14 and 15 for, respectively, the outlet flanges l6and 17 of pumps 2 and 3.

One pump 3 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, partially by dotted lines in thelower, swung-out position 10, corresponding to its working position. Theoutlet flange 17' 'of the pump 3 bears against the pipe line flange 19of the fitting 15. When the pump 3 is raised, it slides with the guideblock 12 along the tubular guides 8 and 9, is turned towards the centerof the shaft opening and finally assumes the upper position 11, shown byfully drawn lines, swung-in towards the center, where the outlet flange17 of the pump forms a given angle with flange 19 of the fitting 15.

FIG. 6, finally, shows an alternative embodiment in which the guides 6,8 are set at an incline, approaching one another towards the top. Eachguide may consist, for example, of two tubes or an I-beam, T-beam or thelike, and here runs straight along its entire length. Especially if theupper, narrower part of the shaft is of fairly considerable length, theguide may be formed with a bend or in a gradual arc, in which case thetwo guides 6, 8 can run parallel to one another at their top end whilerunning apart at the bottom end.

The guide blocks 12 and fittings of the pumps 2, 3 may be of optionalform and are not covered by the invention, for which reason no detailsin these respects are shown in the figures. The same applies to theactual hoisting and lowering device, which may be of known type and isnot shown in the drawing.

Compared with hitherto known pump stations for several pumps,accordingly, the invention permits a reduction of the shaft opening, andthe elimination of the otherwise necessary extra load-bearing structureor reinforcement of the cover, compared with corresponding single-pumpstations.

Naturally the invention is not limited to doublepump stations but isalso applicable to pump stations with arbitrary number of raisable andlowerable pumps. Nor is the form of the guide device according to theinvention limited to the use of tubular guides, but any guide devicewhatsoever can be used which permits a lateral movement in conjunctionwith hoisting or lowering. Nor need the lateral movement necessarilyconsist of a swinging motion as indicated in the embodiments in FIGS.3-5, or in a lateral displacement as in FIG. 6, but may also take placeby other means. Furthermore the lateral movement need not take placesuccessively during the entire vertical movement but can, of course,take place along a limited portion of it, and also in one or more steps.At a double-pump station, finally, the guide device of only one pump maybe constructed according to the invention and the other by conventionalmeans.

FIG. 7 discloses guide means consisting of a straight tube 16 and asecond tube 17 extending helically about the straight tube 16.

What we claim is:

l. A guiding device for pumps lowerable in a shaft to an operativeposition comprising:

at least a pair of pumps; guide means for each respective pump forhorizontally rotating each pump from its initial position at theentrance of the shaft to its operative position, the paths of the pumpsalong the guide means diverging during their lowering and convergingduring their raising relative to each other; and

means on each pump for connection to its respective guide means.

2. A guiding device according to claim 1 where the guide means includesmembers that are slanted relative to the vertical axis of the shaft.

3. A guiding device according to claim 1 where the guide means includestwo rod members that are twisted relative to each other about theircommon mid line.

4. A guiding device according to claim 1 where the guide means includesa pair of rods, one straight and the other extending helically about theaxis of the straight rod.

1. A guiding device for pumps lowerable in a shaft to an operativeposition comprising: at least a pair of pumps; guide means for eachrespective pump for horizontally rotating each pump from its initialposition at the entrance of the shaft to its operative position, thepaths of the pumps along the guide means diverging during their loweringand converging during their raising relative to each other; and means oneach pump for connection to its respective guide means.
 2. A guidingdevice according to claim 1 where the guide means includes members thatare slanted relative to the vertical axis of the shaft.
 3. A guidingdevice according to claim 1 where the guide means includes two rodmembers that are twisted relative to each other about their common midline.
 4. A guiding device according to claim 1 where the guide meansincludes a pair of rods, one straight and the other extending helicallyabout the axis of the straight rod.